What would it be like to be so in love with someone that nothing else mattered but them?
Of its own volition his gaze travelled back to the table where Cerise sat and found she’d swapped seats so that she was facing him now. If he turned his stool around to be able to rest his arms on the bar, all she’d see would be his back, and that was the last thing he wanted.
Behind him he heard Buck set down his glass. Damn he’d have to turn around now.
“Thanks, Buck,” he said.
“Not a problem.” He narrowed his eyes and Brodie sat a little straighter, sensing Buck was about to say something to him. But then the man blinked and the look disappeared. Whatever he’d been tempted to say, he’d clearly had second thoughts about it.
Interesting. Why would he do that?
Brodie lifted his drink to his lips and took a swallow, knowing if he turned around, he’d be gazing directly at Cerise again. He really wanted to because, clearly, she’d changed her seat for a reason.
“I think someone wants your attention,” Buck said quietly.
“Yeah?” He tried for casual, but wasn’t sure how successful he was when Buck’s bushy eyebrows almost hit his receding hairline.
“You kids playing hard to get? Cerise is a good sort. She was badly hurt when that tornado ripped through here last year. We both were,” he finished quietly.
Brodie was about to tease Buck on his comment about Cerise being a good sort, but he heard the pain in his voice as he talked about the tornado.
“I know. Mitch told me. He said this place was wrecked.” Oh, way to go. Just mention how he not only almost lost his life, but also his livelihood.
“There wasn’t much left. When I got out of the hospital I was tempted to cut my losses, but the town, and my wife, convinced me that they need this place.” The older man looked around the room, taking in the laughter from the patrons. “I’m glad they did.”
“Me, too, Buck. Where else can I come for trivia night?”
Brodie’s body stood to attention when he heard Cerise behind him. His dick flexed behind his zipper and he shifted to alleviate the pressure.
Buck’s lips quirked in the corners as if he could sense Brodie’s discomfort. “I’m sure there are trivia nights in Kerrville you could go to. Places that are much closer to your home than here.”
Cerise moved so that she was standing beside Brodie, her sweet floral perfume hitting his senses. He’d never be able to smell flowers again without thinking of Cerise. “True, but they all don’t have the atmosphere that your place does.”
Brodie watched the byplay between the two of them. He guessed when you were caught in a life-and-death situation,relationships were forged. Relationships that couldn’t be broken.
“Not much atmosphere here now,” Buck grumbled.
“Pfft.” Cerise waved away his comment with a flick of her hand. “The place has lost the new building smell. It lost it a week after opening when the Rafferty twins decide to have a beer fight.”
Brodie was almost too afraid to ask, but he couldn’t resist. “A beer fight?”
Buck laughed, a deep-seated one. “Yeah. Ted and Jed argue over just about everything. I have no idea what set them off that time, something about Ted having more beer in his glass than Jed, which is a crock of shit because when I pull a beer, I pull even beers. Anyway, the next minute, they’re tossing the beer over each other and grabbing all the nearby glasses and doing the same.”
Brodie’s mouth hung open, not believing what he was hearing. “Are you telling me two grown men threw perfectly fine alcohol over each other?”
“Yep.” Cerise confirmed the bartender’s story. “And they ruined my favorite pair of glitter flats. I made those suckers buy me three new pairs as compensation. And I wasn’t even sorry.”
Brodie laughed at Cerise’s comment. “Nothing comes between you and your glitter, huh, Sparkles?”
“You know it,” she said. “Now are you sure you don’t want to join us for trivia? One of the guys had to leave. His kid started throwing up, so his wife wanted him home. We’re one man short.”
He looked over to Buck, who held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, Dice, I got a bar to run.” With that he wandered down toward the other end to attend to someone else.
“So how about it, Dice? You going to dazzle me with your brains?”
There was no point denying he wanted to spend time with Cerise. He could sit at the bar and wish he was close to her, or he could be close to her. “Okay, you twisted my arm.”
Cerise fist pumped the air. “Yes. You won’t regret it.”
